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47Soul – Help Launch The Incredible New Sound Of The #Shamstep

Support The Arabic Band That Is Overcoming Visa + Borders Restrictions!

If all goes to plan and you are online, tomorrow at noontime, you will be hit by an incredible cyber thunderclap to support the efforts of the 47Soul band; with tweets popping up and Facebook as well as Tumblr alerts that will invite you to help launch the new sound of Bilad al-Sham and to create the #Shamstep.

If you haven’t already been exposed to the young energetic 47Soul musical formation, then be prepared for incredible marvel and surprise if you listen on Youtube or Soundcloud. Better yet, make sure to attend them in concert as they are currently taking the London underground music scene by storm - as well as having amassed thousands of fans throughout the Middle East and Europe - for the past two years and still going strong.

Already having overcome visa and border restrictions to work together, the four artists - who are all originally Palestinian but were living in different countries - first performed as one at the Blue Fig in Amman, Jordan in 2013. There they succeeded with their experimental hypnotic sound, that now even Glastonbury and WOMAD 2015 want a bit of them, as they guarantee to get the crowds singing and dancing along in whichever free form inspired by them.

Originally, the four were solo artists who became aware of each other through Youtube and word of mouth on the alternative Arabic music scene that is itself breaking borders to reach out to people in divided regions. Their real and stage names are: Walaa Sbait, 28 from Palestine; Z the People (real name Ramzy Suleiman) who is also 28, born in the United States and of Palestinian origin; El Far3i (real name Tareq Abu Kwaik) who is 31 from Amman with Palestinian origin; and, El Jehaz (real name Hamza Arnaout) who is 32 and also from Amman with Palestinian origin.

When onstage, the 47Soul magic mix combines a spontaneous charisma of all the four as they play the electric Arabic debka sound that is always hyped up with analogue synthesizers, hypnotic guitar lines and strong political lyrics in English and Arabic. The message is always to call out for the celebration of life and about the struggle for freedom, peace and equality both inside Bilad Al-Sham and throughout the world. One of their most popular songs is 'Every Land Medley'.

In London, they have already performed at many venues including the Rich Mix, The Flyover in Portobello, Passing Clouds, and The Elgin at Notting Hill Gate; with their next big ambition to tackle Koko’s in Camden, where it can hold up to 2,000 people so there will be lots of space for dancing and dabke for those who know the steps!

They have also taken part in Wilderness Festival at Oxfordshire, the Secret Garden Party, as well as concerts in Bristol, Totnes in South Devon and other UK cities. And, outside the UK, they have been in Jordan, Egypt and Belgium. Their fan base however extends even to South America in Argentina and Jamaica too.

But at present, they need the crowd support to utilise their time together in London to produce a debut record to encapsulate all the songs they have been performing as well as new material they are working on. If the campaign succeeds, they will do the recording at the Soup Studio, where they can record on analogue equipment for the best real sound. At present, they are on artist visas and have a booking agent, the 'Diplomats of Sound'.

The online campaign is being done via the Zoomaal crowd-raising platform and the deadline is 20 April, 2015. The funds gathered are to cover the costs for the recording, sound engineering, mastering, design and manufacturing CDs, vinyl and the rewards for those who donate online. To support them: http://www.zoomaal.com/projects/47soulshamstep/3835?ref=14486082

If you need any more convincing, this is in their own words: “We are not just asking you to contribute to this campaign. We want you to own this music with us! We want the ‘Shamstep’ to be something that gives you pride to blast full volume out of your speakers and car stereos. Your support means more dabke for the world and less culture-erasing! It means that music is bigger than borders and that music is made to be shared . Your support is as important as the opportunities awaiting us!